


Breathe With Me

by enderweathered



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29767065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enderweathered/pseuds/enderweathered
Summary: Maki finds Kaede in the hallway after Rantaro's death. That wouldn't be a problem if the girl wasn't hyperventilating.orEven someone as hopeful as Kaede needs comfort at times.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Harukawa Maki
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Breathe With Me

“Breathe with me, Kaede. In,” Maki murmurs, rubbing small circles against the pianist’s back in a soothing rhythm as they kneel on the hallway floor, “and now out.”

Kaede shudders as she exhales, clutching her pleated skirt in white-knuckled fists and trying not to lose herself in the panic. Maki’s chin is resting on Kaede’s head, letting her push up against the girl’s chest and feel her deep breathing. It’s horrible, and embarrassing, and so, so sweet. She never would have expected the girl to give her the time of day, let alone calm her through a panic attack. But apparently her skill with children expanded into a general understanding of other people’s well-being, and when she found Kaede hyperventilating on the floor, her instincts seemed to have taken over. 

“You’re alright. In and out- slowly. Breathe.” Some part of Kaede’s mind questions the sudden gentleness when they’ve been at each other’s throats since the moment the killing game was announced, but it helps to slow her breaths, so she appreciates it nonetheless.

“Maki,” she mutters shakily, “I can’t. I’m going to be sick.”

The other girl hums dismissively. “No, you’re not. It’s just the anxiety. Focus on slow breaths and think about your happy place.” It’s a little jab, just a tiny bit rude, and the familiarity is enough to give Kaede pause. 

“I can’t. I’m- I-,” She swallows hard, trying to gather thoughts and form words, “I’ve tried too hard. I’ve had so much hope, and pushed for so long, and tried to stay positive, and now... Rantaro is dead… and the rest of us are going to die, too, if I can’t figure this out. I thought we would be fine if we just tried hard enough, but… but didn’t Rantaro try? And didn’t he...f-fail?” 

Two firm hands plant themselves on her shoulders, and she shudders heavily. “Look at me, Kaede. I’m not taking this shit from you right now.”

She blinks in confusion, but Maki continues on.

“You are the most annoyingly hopeful, hard working person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. You’re stubborn, and bossy, and optimistic, and it’s…” she falters, and it’s then that Kaede notices the faint red undertones in her face, “it’s good.”

‘Good?’ Her voice sounds different, in that way it only does when she talks to Kaede and she’s urging her to consider another way, anything other than what she’s already set her one-track mind to. 

There’s a lot behind the word “good.”

“So you can’t give up. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, or sad, or you feel like you want to quit. It doesn’t fucking matter. Because you’re Kaede Akamatsu, and you never stop with that stupid cheery smile, and I’m not letting you stop now. So stand up, brush yourself off, and lean on me.”

She stares at Maki in disbelief, feeling some warm emotion well up inside of her. It mixes with dread and sadness- that she isn’t allowed to give up, a reminder of how tired she is, that voice in the back of her head saying you killed him. It’s your fault. Just give up. And maybe some day she’ll listen to that dark voice instead. Maybe some day her resolve will wear down. But today- for right now- she’ll listen to Maki instead.

“Kaede?”

She snaps out of her stupor just in time to mutter, “Huh? I-I’m sorry, what?”

Maki rolls her eyes. “I said I’m going to get you some water, okay?”

Kaede worries her lip in between her teeth and nods, furrowing a brow in concentration and pushing the panic down as best she can. If she notices the other girl staring at her lips, she gives no indication. Maki quickly rushes towards the school kitchen to grab a glass, and Kaede thinks back to her instructions. Happy place, right. She works well with orders, whether it’s giving or receiving them, and this is one she can follow. She already knows what to picture.

When Maki gets back with the water, the soft notes of Der Flohwalzer are floating through the pianist’s mind as she breathes in, out, in, out, in a quiet rhythm. Despite the uneven tone of her breaths, they’re getting better. 

Maki silently slips the glass into Kaede’s hand, pausing only to ensure that she has a decent grip, before she moves back to running a hand through the other girl’s hair. 

“There you are. Deep and slow. Good girl,” she coaxes her into leaning against the wall, and Kaede quickly complies as she covers the quickly growing blush in her cheeks. God, Maki probably didn’t realize how very _lewd _she’d sounded when she’d said that, but she isn’t going to bring it up and make things more awkward than they already are.__

__They stay there for another few minutes, practicing deep breaths and happy places and quiet murmurs of praise._ _

__When Kaede seems calmer, Maki glances at her from her position kneeling above, and they both become suddenly very aware of their intimate position. Maki’s hands are tangled in Kaede’s hair and resting on the back of her sweater vest, while the other girl leans against her for support. To make matters worse, Kaede is tightly gripping the material of Maki’s jeans, right on the inside of her thigh._ _

__“Er… thanks, Maki. You’re sweet. I’ll be okay now,” She beams with genuine gratitude, albeit awkwardly._ _

__The caregiver's face lights up in angry red. “I’m not sweet, I just saw you needed help and…” She trails off as Kaede stares into her eyes with a teasing smile. “Ugh. You’re making fun of me.” She pushes the girl off of her, taking care not to be too rough after the anxiety ordeal, and stands up._ _

__The pianist giggles. “Maybe. What are you going to do about it?”_ _

__A silence follows, just a moment long enough to be weird, and Kaede bites her lip as an intense stare pierces through her._ _

__“...Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Maki murmurs flatly, “are you okay now?”_ _

__When Kaede nods her confirmation, Maki quickly swivels on her heels and walks the opposite direction down the hall in a manner that suggests she is suddenly very tense._ _

__Watching her stride away, Kaede feels warm hope blossom in her chest once again. It’s mixed with something else, another feeling she doesn’t have the vocabulary to describe, but that can be addressed later. For now, they have a mystery to solve, a killing game to dismantle, and classmates to lead and inspire._ _

__“Alright, chickadees! It’s time for the very first class trial!” Monokuma’s voice booms over the academy speakers, and Kaede takes a deep breath. Time to expose this mastermind. Maybe Maki will go back to treating her coldly later, but as she pictures the girl's face as she calmed her through her panic, she somehow doubts that to be the case._ _

__Class trial time. She’s certain they’ll have plenty of time to sort out their feelings after it’s done, and they’ve escaped this place._ _

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly unedited and was written pretty quickly but I just felt like posting it. Let me know what you thought! <3


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